Yes, Disabled Characters Belong in Fantasy — And Here's A Few You'll Love (Exclusive)

I got seriously ill in 2015 and had no idea why. Sitting in waiting rooms or bedridden with stomach aches, I escaped to books. My favorite was young adult fantasy where I could get lost in page-turning plots and swoon-worthy romances instead of worrying about test results or worrisome symptoms. These books, along with my family, helped me survive the diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. They gave me comfort and distracted me in difficult times.

The only treatment that helped me go into remission also suppressed my immune system. As a result, my daily life changed drastically, leaving me feeling isolated. I struggled with what being disabled meant for me, my identity and my future. I turned to books again, but was frustrated when the few stories I could find with protagonists like me took place entirely in hospitals or emphasized the physical aspects of my illness for shock and horror.

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While those contemporary stories are important, the trauma and struggle they explored were my reality, and I wanted—no, needed — something that gives me hope. As a reader, my heart has always belonged to science fiction and fantasy. These are the stories I like to escape to, but I couldn’t find any with protagonists like me.

Writing your own representation

‘A Legacy of Scars’.

Sourcebooks Fire

I set out to write the heroine I needed: a fierce, determined girl who also happens to have Crohn’s disease, but isn’t defined by her disability. In my debut fantasy novel, Inheritance of scarsAstrid feels isolated because of her weakened immune system and fears that her missing grandmother is the only person who can love her.

That is, until Astrid accidentally awakens a Viking vampire who mistakes her for her ancestor, his former lover turned enemy. Soren can’t make her sick, but Astrid’s life could end anyway as they venture into the haunted forest to find her grandmother, only to discover an ancient blood oath and her family’s dark secrets.

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Astrid’s story has been eating at me since 2019. At first I was hesitant to give her Crohn’s because I was still struggling to accept my own diagnosis. Being vulnerable and honest about my experience scared me, but I knew I had to write the story I’d been searching for on the shelves for years. From the very first chapter, Astrid admits that she has Crohn’s disease, and through the story she learns that even though the disease has changed her life, it doesn’t have to stop her from life. Writing about Astrid helped me to not only learn to accept my disability, but to embrace it.

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Disability belongs to science fiction and fantasy

Some readers assume that magic can fix any “breakdown”. But it is a false (and capable) assumption that disability requires “fixing” in the first place because not all disabled people need or want to be “cured.” It also fails to take into account how different disabilities really are, from physical to mental, visible to invisible.

Disability and magic can coexist. My novel is a fantasy that is based in our world and is full of hidden monsters and magic – but it has limitations. Inspired by Norse myth, there are magic wands that can open locks without a key, make people invisible, or even bring the dead back to life. But there is still no “magic cure” for my main character, just as there is none for me.

People with disabilities deserve to see themselves as main characters in a wide range of fiction, not just contemporary stories that focus on our trauma or struggle. If dragons can exist in a fantasy world, why can’t people with disabilities?

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Books by disabled authors with disabled people

I wanted to highlight some of my favorite disability SFF books written by authors with disabilities. These stories are so important because they give writers with disabilities an opportunity to address their disabilities while also providing readers with new perspectives.

One for All Lillie Lainoff

‘One for all’.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Gendered retelling Three Musketeers, in which a girl with a chronic illness trains as a musketeer and discovers secrets, sisterhood and self-love. The experience of the protagonist Tania was inspired by postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

Monsters born and made by Tanvi Berwah

‘Monsters born and made’.

Books by Margaret K. McElderry

This South Asian-inspired fantasy is a thrilling debut about the power of the elite, the price of fame, and one girl’s chance to change everything. The main character Koral has an undiagnosed bipolar disorder.

Song of ghosts and ruins by Roseanne A. Brown

“Song of ghosts and ruins”.

Scholastic Press

A fantasy inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving heir to the throne and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to kill each other, despite their growing attraction. The protagonist Malik has anxiety and panic attacks.

Unprecedented by Ivelisse Housman

‘Unseen’.

Inkyard Press

A young adult fantasy that follows the adventures of a shapeshifting Seelie and her human twin as they embark on the heist of a lifetime for a mysterious heirloom. The protagonist Iselia “Seelie” is autistic.

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

‘The Whispering Dark’.

Inkyard Press

A dark and atmospheric story about a girl caught between worlds and a dark force that could tear both worlds apart. Protagonist Delaney Meyers-Petrov is deaf.

Inheritance of scars is out on October 1st and is available for pre-order now, wherever books are sold.

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Source: HIS Education